Hardening the perimeter

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95XL883

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Reading the home invasion thread has got me thinking about how I could further harden the entrances to my house.

Doors are solid core and are almost always locked with heavy duty double cylinder deadbolts. Strikeplates are heavy duty and secured with 3" screws to the stud. The double hung windows have aluminum pins to make prying them open very difficult (although my wife could be better at putting them back in.) The garage door is usually closed. The back yard has motion detector lights. The front landscaping is deciduous and I'm relocating the rose bushes to be in front of the windows.

One basement window has bars installed on the inside. The other basement window meets code for emergency egress. It does have a pair of 2x4 wood grates over the well and it is well concealed by a fence and shrubs. It is highly likely to be seen but it would give an intruder excellent coverage.

I live in a typical subdivision where emergency response is three minutes or less.

For the doors, I could replace the hinge screws with 3" screws.

I could add wood blocks to the upper sashes to limit how far they can be opened. (Anybody know how to add blocks if I change the windows to fiberglass windows?)

I should probably add metal bars to the vulnerable basement window.

I should probably change the front lights to be motion activated also.

Does anybody have any experience with the individual door/window alarms like http://www.dobermanproducts.com/home_security.html?

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

PS. I carry virtually all of the time so if I can't keep them out, then I need just a little notice.
 
Brings up a thought: is "hardening the perimeter" something that can only be done with a structure? Or is something that can be done for a yard, a campsite...

Or for an individual person?
 
1. Depending upon your local fire code (if you don't legally require the well-window to be quickly unblocked)...set a potable water storage barrel or rain barrel in the well. A filled 55 gallon drum is going to weigh ~500 lbs and present an obstacle that can't be dead lifted out of the well by an intruder. Have it tapped (if it doesn't already have) for a hose bib connection to empty into a basement sink or floor drain when needed. Two for one value...security and out of the way, gravity fed, emergency water storage. Leave it at least 20% unfilled if you have hard winters (to allow for expansion of frozen contents).

2. Dog. Any dog with a nose, good ears, and a bark. Ankle biter or behemoth...it doesn't matter as long as they are alert and noisy when strangers call.

3. Emergency Window Break/Disturbance Alarms. Wireless sets are available, but you can buy the simple battery operated ones that stick on a window frame, sash, or glass. Very inexpensive and provide a loud audible warning. I use a few on certain windows. They are noisy and the batteries last a long while, even with glass chilled by snow. Have never had a false alarm and they feature a test button (like a smoke detector).
 
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Sounds good so far - the water barrel plan and a dog are nice additions. I have the ROOM and yard for a German Shepherd. Would like to GET one eventually!
 
...another VERY simple and cheap addition; radios on in garage, or the house when not home.

Garage; rodents hate constant noise and intruders hate not being able to hear approaching homeowners.
 
Noisy gravel under the windows, and thorny bushes along the house.
 
We've been very happy with this company's wireless motion detectors for several years - http://www.chamberlain.com/doityourself/pages/producttype.aspx?typeid=59 . Downsides are few - they will detect motion from sun-heated, wind-tossed vegetation, and occasional bees or spiders will cavort immediately in front of the sensor and make it alarm. Sensors are battery operated, and use AA batteries, use lithium batteries if your area is subject to really cold weather. Batteries will last most of two years as advertised, but we usually change them every year.

Our system even detected a fire across the road from our house once - turned out the owner of the adjoining property was doing a controlled burn, but he didn't tell us in advance that time as he usually does. One of the sensors was sounding off persistently, so I went to see what was going on in the area it covered and found the woods on fire. Each sensor has a different tone so you can tell which sensor is being tripped.

These cost more than some of the bargain type systems out there, but in my experience they are worth it.
 
Yes, the receiver has battery backup, it's usually powered from a 'wall wart' but can be used without line power as well, for as long as batteries last/spares are available.
 
I'd start farther out with your defenses. If your codes allow it I would install a fence in your front yard. I would make it pleasing to the eye (no barbed wire) and a fence signals stay out. Good fences make good neighbors.

Next I would cut down any bushes that would to conceal someone.

I would install a storm door on all entrances if possible.

I like steel clad Therma Thu entry doors. They are tough.
 
I have a Larson security door as a storm door. It has there points where it locks plus a 3m security film between glass panes. Since it opens outward, I bet it is more difficult to kick-in than my solid core door.
 
Thanks guys. (Sorry I"m just not getting back to this. I got busy with my boy and my assigned honey-do's.)

Interesting idea on the water barrel. I could do that as the room is no longer used as a bedroom.

Fred, thanks for the Chamberlain referral. (I didn't realize they made those. I'm very happy with their garage door opener.) I'll be ordering the alarms later today.

Code won't allow a front yard fence. Too bad, my wife would love it. (Although I'm not sure if it the fence or another honey-do. :))

Taking out the only real shrub would expose my weakest entrance, the basement entrance. The other shrubs are rose bushes which I am deliberately placing in front of the windows.

The interior door to the garage is well secured, solid core with a heavy duty deadbolt and strikeplate secured to the studs.

I keep thinking about a dog (Lab, Brittany or Bullmastiff). My hesitation is the bulk of its upkeep would fall on me and I don't get enough trigger time as is.

Thanks again, guys.
 
A filled 55 gallon drum is going to weigh ~500 lbs and present an obstacle that can't be dead lifted out of the well by an intruder.
Click to expand...

I'd be remiss if I didn't point out a possible downside...

If the space between the barrel and the vertical well sides is significant, a burglar could puncture the drum toward the bottom and simply drain it (at least during warm weather). In other words, make sure the barrel is a snug fit.
 
Is the code that does not allow a fence a POA code or is this a city/county code. In some locations, POA codes aren’t enforceable.

Also, what constitutes a fence? Not all fences are chain-link or blackboard. How bout a holly fence? Even if you couldn’t gate it, it would serve to make access difficult except for the driveway and if this is a typical development, the front yard and driveway are probably in plain sight of the neighbors.

If you get an inside dog, go with a short haired breed! I have a dual-coat dog that only sheds once per year (starting Jan 01, stops Dec 31).
 
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I live in an area where tempered glass storm windows with metal shutters are the norm anyways, but they are EXTREMELY secure. You can find videos of police shapshooters trying to shoot through regular glass with .308 and the bullets get defelcted. Tempered storm glass has actually stopped some smaller rounds, and NOBODY is putting and elbow or foot though them.
Also, I read an article fron NJ where criminals were interviewed about how and why they chose one house to burglerize over another. The #1 deterant was a loud dog. The #2, interestingly enough, was and NRA sticker on a car in the drive way.
 
zoom6zoom:
You say the garage door is usually closed, but how secure is the door from the garage into the house?
Click to expand...

'Good point! 'Glad to see this brought up, and also that the OP says his is secure. The door from the garage to the house is usually a weak link.

This door and the garage door itself need to be especially protected, because if a burglar can gain entrance to your garage, then behind a closed garage door he has time and privacy to work on the door into the house.
 
A BEWARE OF DOG sign that is visable from the street will cause potential home invaders to pick an easier target. Don't have a dog? It makes no difference because they will not bother to find out. Make your house look just a little harder than the next one.
 
There are several theories on why criminals do what they do; one of them states that "for crime to be committed, three aspects are needed: 1) A Motivated Offender 2) A Suitable Target 3) The Lack of a Capable Guardian".

Target hardening is just one strategy, and frankly it is not the most obvious. For instance, someone would have to actually try to kick in the door before they realized that it had been re-enforced. CPTED principles of natural surveillance, access control, maintenance, and territorial re-enforcement are gone over simply here http://www.sacrt.com/dna/community_review/documents/Safety.01.29.10.pdf

Is there a problem with break-ins in your area? If so, then you will need to go over carefully the strategies listed. If no, then doing a few things, like you are discussing, wouldn't hurt. It is also worth noting that many newer subdivisions are designed with CPTED strategies in mind.

EDIT:

It is also worth noting that dogs, like guns, are not a cure-all for all security issues. Dogs are major investments in time and dollars. I have a neighbor who has a pitbull in his back yard. The dog, I am sure, was bought for "security" reasons. The truth it is left in the backyard 24/7 and is now a crazy dog. If you do not want one, will not let the thing in the house, and will not dedicate the time, money, and energy that it takes to own one, then please do not get one.
 
Back yard dog = NO DOG IN HOUSE
and the value is??

Layers
First layer is not letting people know your house is a valuable target, this doesn't stop them all, just reduces the chances of a targeted attack by a crew looking for a specific thing, such as firearms, or a businesses cash or rumored.... So counter intelligence.

Second is the thing you do to minimize the 'appeal' of your house, don't leave your 52" TV box on the curb trash day. Don't have a safe visible with the garage door open. Then reduce the EASE, keep your doors shut, don't leave bugler tool in the open etc.

Then make it less appealing/more difficult than your neighbors, prickly hedges no easy hiding spots and such. Then the hardening, it's onions, the first layer should be in avoiding targeted attacks.
 
Last Christmas I hung sleigh bells on my front and back (inside) door knobs purely as decoration. Naturally, they make quite a racket when either door is opened.

They're still hanging there.
 
Windows: My house has high mounted windows in all the bedrooms, so unless the intruder brought a small step ladder along, he isn't getting in through a bedroom window. I have lawn furniture on the front porch under the lower set living room windows and a lot of junk piled up in front of the garage window would make for a very noisy entrance there.

Lighting: I've got a light that burns all night illuminating the end of my driveway, which is gravel from the road halfway to my house, where it turns to concrete. I have exterior motion sensor light at the corner of the house by the garage, and I have plans to install one in the backyard inside the fence line, and another right outside my bedroom window, giving me pretty much 360 degree coverage.

Doors: I've got 3" stainless steel bolts in the front door hinges, and eventually plan on getting a steel frame for the front door with upgraded locks. Coupled with a steel storm door, the front door is going to be difficult to penetrate. Back doors are all inside a six foot high fence that has no gate.

Extra: Three American bulldogs, and one mean and loud rooster (his talons have split open my shins through jeans) help round out the defenses.

I don't need to live in a bank vault to feel secure and safe. Just enough deterrents to make them move along to an easier target, or slow them down long enough to retrieve a firearm and hunker down with 911 on the line.

Also, living out in the sticks does help deter crime. Less than 500 people in my town according to the last census.
 
Dogs do not have to be big and vicious to be effective, just noisy. Anything that might cause a neighbor to look out the window, see strangers and call the police makes your house just a little bit harder than the next one.
 
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